Midseason Arrives

Marisa LaScala

They whiffed, they wobbled, they stalled, but midseason television shows are finally underway. Midseason replacements are in a very odd phase right now. Half the shows scheduled for debut were stunted by the writers' strike, which lead to a few truncated seasons. (We were just getting started, Sarah Connor!) The strike also prompted studios to talk big about how they're doing away with lavish upfronts and big fall premieres and switching to year-round programming, swapping in new shows and taking old ones off the air as the need arises. That sounds like television utopia, right? New shows all year? But right now, "new shows all year" translates into "we'll run whatever we were able to produce before the strike, and when those run out of episodes we'll slap whatever we were able to produce in the meantime in its timeslot." This means right now we're burning our way through a lot of lousy five- and six-episode runs of a mixed bag of shows. Welcome to midseason.

So, what shows are the biggest critical winners and losers?

Winners

Eli StoneUsually, shows about people who have weird visions that give them life lessons don't pan out all too well (think Wonderfalls, Joan of Arcadia). I guess they were just missing George Michael. Michael appears as a sort of prophet to lawyer Eli Stone (Jonny Lee Miller, or Sickboy from Trainspotting), and thus he is called to drop corporate law for a life of good works. Adventures ensue. The show seems better than its description, and TV Guidecalls it "adorably quirky and emotionally surprising." Eli Stone is on ABC every Thursday at 10 pm.

New AmsterdamThis show, a show about an immortal homicide NYPD officer, was cancelled in the fall to make room for more episodes of Don't Forget the Lyrics. Now it's finally seeing the light of day, thanks to the strike. And lo, it's a good thing. The Chicago Sun-Timeswrites "New Amsterdam is smart and far more original than most of the new series this season, which warrants it becoming a Monday habit." New Amsterdam is on Fox every Monday at 9 pm.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor ChroniclesAfter Arnold, future robo-resistor John Conner sends a sexy cyborg back in time to prevent machines from taking over Earth. For a while, this show will have you thinking in circles, wondering, "If John Connor stops the machines from being built, how can he send a Terminator back to protect him? And if he doesn't do that and he dies, how can he stop the machines from being built?" But then stuff blows up and robots fight each other and everything is as it should be. New York magazine calls executive producer David Nutter "an adrenaline junkie equally adept at terrorizing a classroom, blowing up a city, rebooting a cyborg, or time-warping a bank vault." Unfortunately, this was one of those quickie strike-stunted series that already had its finale. Find a friend who saved it on DVR.

Losers

Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick JungleOh, it's not a good time to be a Sex and the City rip-off. Sex and the City's executive producer is behind Mafia, while its writer, Candace Bushnell, adapted another one of her novels for Jungle. It seems the parts are not greater than the sum of its whole—reviews are each more dismal than the last. The Washington Poststates that "the self-absorption and selfishness" of Mafia's characters "become unbearable," and the New York Timeswrites that "Lipstick Jungle is a wooden clog of a melodrama squeezed into a flimsy, satin and marabou mule." If you're still not deterred, Cashmere Mafia is on Sundays at 10 pm on ABC, and Lipstick Jungle is on Thursdays at 10 pm on NBC.

UnhitchedPoor Rashida Jones. First, her character on The Office loses heartthrob Jim to her romantic rival, Pam. Now she's stuck in a middling sitcom from There's Something About Mary creators The Farrelly Brothers. The show focuses on a group of thirtysomethings who find themselves once again single. A critic for Varietywrites that "The show feels completely derivative, it's wholly unconvincing that the central quartet would hang out together, and I'm frankly still fuzzy (mostly because after 10 minutes it's difficult to give a damn) on what connects them beyond the not-that-jarring status of being single again in their 30s and, well, Seinfeld did it." Ouch. Give it a pity viewing Sundays, 9:30 pm on Fox.

Others Not Debuted Yet That Might Be Good

The Return of Jezebel JamesThis show, about two polar-opposite sisters who come together when one agrees to be the other's baby mama surrogate, comes with a pedigree: Gilmore Girls' beloved Amy Sherman-Palladino is signed on as executive producer, and quirky indie actress Parker Posey is the star. The show premieres Friday, March 14 at 8:30 pm on Fox.

Miss/GuidedJudy Greer, a terrific actress perennially stuck in best friend and/or big sister roles, finally gets to star in this series. She plays a high-school loser who returns to her alma mater as a guidance counselor. Tune into the premiere Thursday, March 20, at 8 pm on ABC.

Any favorite midseason show to report? Let me know in the comments. Edit Module

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Marisa LaScala

Elmsford, NY

Associate Editor Marisa LaScala joined Westchester magazine in 2003, and ever since she's blown every paycheck at the Greenburgh Multiplex. She also staunchly defends Richard Kelly, doesn't mind spoiling the endings of trashy movies you're curious about but don't want to pay to see, wishes the Hold Steady would come back and rock out Westchester, misses Arrested Development more than anyone can imagine, and still watches cartoons and Saturday Night Live. You can find more of her cultural criticism atwww.popmatters.com, where she is a staff writer.